The Noble Eightfold Path is a path of training: training in ethical conduct, training in mental discipline, and training in wisdom.

The purpose of our lives is to be happy, and happiness is found in benefiting others.

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

The essence of Buddhist practice is to reduce our selfishness and to work for the benefit of others.

What is evil? Killing is evil, lying is evil, slandering is evil, abuse is evil, gossip is evil, envy is evil, hatred is evil, to cling to false doctrine is evil; all these things are evil. And what is the root of evil? Desire is the root of evil, illusion is the root of evil.

Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are already.

Suffering is not the end of the story; it is the middle of the story.

You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.

When things fall apart and we're on the verge of we know not what, the test of each of us is to stay on that brink and not concretize.

Those who understand interdependent origination understand suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path.

Concentration and insight are like two wings of a bird: both are necessary for the flight to liberation.

Peace and negativity cannot coexist just as light and darkness cannot coexist.

Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence.

When we rest in awareness, we discover a peace that is always present, regardless of circumstances.

The purpose of meditation is not to create a mental vacuum but to come to know one's own mind.

Mindfulness is the gentle effort to be continuously present with experience.

For whom emptiness is possible, everything is possible. For whom emptiness is not possible, nothing is possible.

Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent.

The highest mantra is to be without deception. The highest medicine is to have few desires. The highest meditation is not to be attached.

The mind is the forerunner of all things. Our present life is the result of our past thoughts, and our future life will be the result of our present thoughts.

In true vipassana practice, there is no room for likes and dislikes. There is only observation.

The purpose of meditation is to gain right understanding of the true nature of mental and physical phenomena.

Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.

Meditation is not about stopping thoughts, but recognizing that we are not our thoughts.

Hope and fear come from feeling that we lack something; they come from a sense of poverty. We can't simply relax with ourselves. We hold on to hope, and hope robs us of the present moment.

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

The Buddha's teaching is a middle way between all extremes, between eternalism and annihilationism, between self-indulgence and self-torture.

The path to enlightenment is not a path at all. It is a realization that where you are is where you have always been.

The root of all mind is your own present pure awareness. Rest in that essence without seeking elsewhere.

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

When you look deeply into your anger, you will see that the person you call your enemy is also suffering. As soon as you see that, the capacity for accepting and having compassion for them is there.

The path of insight is a path of discovery, not a path of creation. We are discovering what is already there.

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.